Thursday, March 15, 2012

In Home Viewings: "Puss in Boots"

As a prequel to the Shrek
series, Puss in Boots serves to
tell the origin story of the titular character’s (Antonio Banderas) rise to
prominence. A slick thief with a haunted past, Puss takes on a dangerous job in
which he attempts to steal the fabled magic beans from a pair of hardened
criminals known as Jack and Jill (fortunately not Adam Sandler in drag). His
plan goes awry, however, when he comes into contact with another thief, Kitty
Softpaws (Salma Hayek). Softpaws engages Puss in a (dance) battle and
eventually brings him to meet Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), an old
friend-turned-enemy. But Humpty has a plan to right an old wrong and convinces
Puss to join him in the undertaking of a dangerous but lucrative adventure.

I have to hand it Dreamworks animation, they know how to
make a solid children’s movie that adults can sit through comfortably. They’ve
developed a formula that goes something like this: Likeable Characters +
Outstanding Visuals + Recognizable Voice Talent + Borderline-Illicit Jokes That
Kids Won’t Get - Any Semblance of Heart and Emotion = A 3-Star Film That Kids
Will Flock To. Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and the rest all work within this equation and Puss in Boots is no exception.

Let’s work our way through that formula as it applies to
this film. The characters at play within Puss
in Boots are good-enough, though none of them quite measure up to the best
of the Dreamworks universe. Puss is probably better served as an ancillary role
but he is not overmatched with carrying his own film and his surrounding
characters are all enjoyable if underwhelming. Puss looks predictably beautiful with rich scene structure and
exquisite character details. The soul of Dreamworks animation is in their
visuals and this film is nothing if not gorgeously animated. Another staple of
the Dreamworks feature is the use of big name actors to voice the characters as
opposed to the Pixar method which often employs lesser-known performers. The
risk of using well-known voices is that it can cause the audience to see the
characters not as themselves but as the actor providing the voice. Here,
though, I think Banderas and especially Galifianakis do a good job of putting
their respective characters above themselves, not always an easy task. The
jokes, meanwhile, come early and often and fall right in line with the line of
humor we were treated to in the Shrek
films. Dreamworks has mastered the art of cramming adult-oriented jokes into
their films without ever allowing young minds to become the wiser and that is,
of course, a large part of their success. Puss
manages to push the envelope in sly ways and that provides a handful of big
laughs.

The major issue with Puss is the same one I have with just about every Dreamworks
feature: there’s almost nothing in the way of emotional connection. Whereas
Pixar always strives to create organic connection between the characters and
the audience, Dreamworks doesn’t always seem interested in taking their films
beyond above-average children’s fare. I feel like steps have been taken to
correct this problem in recent years. Kung
Fu Panda comes closer to striking an emotional note from time to time and How to Train Your Dragon is absolutely
up to the Pixar standard in every way. But Puss
in Boots is decisively shallow, never bothering to even scratch the surface
in terms of resonating beyond a mildly entertaining level. There’s simply no
depth whatsoever and while that does indeed fit into the Dreamworks formula, at
some point you have to ask yourself if the studio is progressing or simply
painting by numbers.